Reyn observed the estate from behind the bushes. Too far to hear any sounds. A lot of time passed, but no one came out.
He glanced at the sky. Dense clouds hid the moonlight; pitch darkness reigned around.
Taking advantage of the darkness, he began creeping toward the estate. It took over half an hour to circle around it and reach the grove on the side. He climbed a tall tree and, peeking from behind the trunk, surveyed the manor grounds from above.
Activating Soul Eye and boosting brightness, Reyn saw the entire estate as if by day. Focusing his gaze, the image zoomed in, allowing him to discern the finest details.
The estate's layout was simple: a central three-story building, a large lawn in front, stables to the side, and a small garden behind the house. No different from an ordinary private manor.
Lights burned in the second-floor windows, shadows occasionally flickered, but no voices were heard.
Reyn changed positions several times, viewing the estate from different angles, but learned nothing new. The only thing clear was that there were few people inside. Besides the newly arrived Iceberg and Ramsey, there were no more than two or three servants; otherwise, it wouldn't be so quiet.
"Had they come here not for a robbery? Or planning to leave later?" Reyn pondered.
"Can't wait any longer. Today is the best moment. Who knows when they'll be here together again."
Reyn decided to act today.
He left the estate vicinity and, sparing no effort, raced back to the city, to the tavern. Entering his room, he pulled a bag from under the bed, dumped out the parts, and quickly assembled the shotgun.
He dry-fired the trigger several times, checked the mechanism was working, loaded a full magazine, then wrapped the gun in dark cloth and slung it over his back. The remaining shells he inserted one by one into a leather bandolier, which he tied around his waist like a belt and covered with his jacket.
Additionally, he had a dagger in a sheath. He had bought it a few days ago for 30 copper foxes from one of the tavern guests—the man had lost at cards and sold the dagger to pay up.
Finally, he stuffed a black mask into his pocket.
Making sure everything was ready and nothing forgotten, Reyn set off.
Going downstairs, he passed Zoltan and Roger, nodded to them as usual, and left the tavern.
Roger, engrossed in his card game, still turned and watched Reyn go, thoughtfully rubbing his chin, but said nothing.
It was evening; few people in the Rienflale district streets, almost no patrol guards. Reyn knew the area well and, avoiding dangerous alleys where trouble often happened, slipped out of the city via a small unguarded road.
Even if he met guards, they would likely let him go after a brief questioning upon seeing his Superhuman Academy pass. As for the shotgun on his back, its shape resembled a long sword and unlikely to draw much attention. In Longsand, people with weapons on the streets were commonplace; everyone was used to it. In a world ruled by Superhumans, banning weapons was impossible.
Soon Reyn was back near the estate. A little over an hour had passed since he left. Iceberg and the others were still inside.
Reyn crouched and began pondering an attack plan.
Storming the estate he dismissed immediately—too dangerous, pure suicide. He didn't know the house layout or which room Iceberg was in. The servants posed a threat too. Getting surrounded meant certain death.
Second, he needed the initiative in the fight. Main target—Iceberg. Ideally, take him out with the first shot. Once the most dangerous opponent was dead, Ramsey would cease to be a problem.
"So, wait for them to come out."
Reyn didn't know when Iceberg would leave the estate, but it didn't matter. There was only one road from the manor, and he could pick an ambush spot on it.
He walked back along the road and soon found the perfect place.
It was about four hundred meters from the estate. Meadows with knee-high dense grass stretched on both sides of the road. Sitting in the grass made staying hidden easy, but standing up offered a clear view for two to three hundred meters around, with no cover.
Iceberg was a Shadow Warrior. His strongest ability—Shadow Evasion—required shadows and complex terrain for maximum effect. But here, on the open meadow, any movement would rustle the grass, giving him away. Shadow Evasion became practically useless.
Reyn feared most Iceberg's high speed over short distances. But on open ground, increasing the distance made this threat less serious.
"Here," Reyn decided without further hesitation.
Choosing his position, he pulled out the dagger and began digging pits in the road.
The pits were shallow, just fifteen centimeters deep, and narrow, less than twenty centimeters in diameter. After digging, he crisscrossed them with sturdy grass stems and sprinkled a thin layer of soil so they blended with the rest of the road. He dug seven or eight such traps on a short stretch. A passing carriage hitting even one with a wheel would bog down; the horse would panic, possibly breaking a leg.
Finishing preparations, Reyn moved a few meters toward the estate and lay in the roadside grass, covering himself with a pre-gathered bundle of weeds.
"Hope it doesn't rain, or I'll be in trouble," he thought.
The night deepened. Time passed. Midnight came. The estate lights had gone out an hour ago. Reyn was starting to think Iceberg would stay overnight and leave only tomorrow when he heard movement.
The estate gates opened, and the carriage slowly rolled out.
"They're coming!" Reyn instantly perked up; the drowsiness from hours of waiting vanished. "I knew they couldn't hold out."
He pulled the black mask over his face and focused on the carriage.
The carriage moved along the country road. Night, low speed. A windproof lantern hung on the roof, a bright spot in the darkness.
The carriage approached; the lantern light grew brighter.
Reyn lay motionless in the grass. Soul Eye brightness was maxed. His finger rested on the trigger; the shotgun barrel was slightly raised at the right angle.
The carriage drew very close. One horse pulled it. The clop of hooves echoed loudly in the night stillness.
Clop-clop-clop...
The ground vibrated slightly. Lying on it, Reyn felt it distinctly. At that moment, he was utterly calm. Holding his breath, he watched only the approaching carriage. No trace of agitation in his soul. His hands gripping the shotgun were steady, like a surgeon's before an operation.
In seconds, the carriage was right before him. The coachman sat on the box, holding the reins, focused on guiding the horse, oblivious to the man by the road.
Bang!
The sudden gunshot roar shattered the silence and echoed across the fields.
The coachman was struck like by a heavy fist. His body jerked, and he tumbled from the box to the ground. The horse, startled by the shot and freed from the reins, lost control and bolted forward along the road. But after just a few meters, it suddenly stumbled and crashed to the ground.
The carriage body first slammed into the fallen horse, then, by inertia, flipped onto its side. Crashing to the ground with a thud, it rolled over two or three more times.
Reyn watched the scene from cover. While the carriage tumbled, he racked the pump, reloading the shotgun, then grabbed a shell from the bandolier and topped off the magazine.
The windproof lantern on the roof shattered and went out on impact. The surroundings plunged into darkness. Only the agonized whinny of the badly injured horse with broken legs could be heard.
Suddenly, the carriage door was kicked out from inside, and a dark figure leaped out.
"Iceberg."
Reyn recognized him immediately.
As a Superhuman, Iceberg had a sturdy body. The sudden rollover only slightly scratched his head. He was still incredibly fast.
Dressed in black leather armor, sword already drawn, he crouched low to the ground and charged straight at Reyn's cover like an attacking cheetah.
"He spotted me that fast."
Reyn no longer hid. He sprang up from the grass. When Iceberg burst into the thickets and was just seven or eight meters away, Reyn fired in his direction without aiming.
Bang!
A cloud of white smoke enveloped everything. Dozens of small steel balls flew from the barrel at eye-invisible speed, covering a wide area.
Iceberg's figure jerked sharply.
He managed to shift half a step sideways just before the shot, but was still hit. Sharp pain pierced his left arm. Glancing down, he saw his entire arm turned into a bloody mess, practically crippled.
"What kind of gun is that?" Iceberg couldn't hold back a shout.
He had encountered "Archers," fought them, even killed one. He knew their fighting style and weaknesses well. Archers were weak in close combat, and ordinary spirit guns hit only one point. Guessing the shot moment, a Shadow Warrior with his speed could easily dodge at close range.
He was sure he had evaded the bullet's trajectory, but still got clipped! The only explanation— the strange weapon in his opponent's hands.
Reyn, of course, had no intention of explaining. After firing, he immediately racked the pump, reloaded, and fired again without hesitation.
Bang!
Iceberg's figure vanished suddenly. Reyn was a fraction of a second late; the shot went into empty air.
He didn't panic. He had deliberately waited for Iceberg to enter the grass before opening fire—precisely to counter his Shadow Evasion.
In the tall grass, unless Iceberg stood still, he couldn't approach unnoticed.
Evidently, Iceberg realized this too. Using Shadow Evasion to hide, he froze in place, afraid to move and give himself away. Gritting his teeth against the arm pain, he slowed his breathing to a minimum.
Reyn didn't fire blindly.
Keeping the shotgun ready, he backed up a few steps, increasing distance in case Iceberg threw his sword as a projectile.
At that moment, noise came from the overturned carriage. Another figure climbed out and, using the darkness, bolted down the road.
"Ramsey. I knew he was in the carriage too."
Simultaneously, from the estate side, hearing the shots, two men with lanterns and weapons ran toward the scene.
Soul Eye showed one was a Superhuman, likely an Iron Guard, but only first level. The second wasn't weak either; his soul power exceeded an ordinary human's.
"Another Superhuman. Can't drag this out."
Reyn had no intention of letting Ramsey escape. He swung the shotgun and fired at him.
Bang! Ramsey cried out in pain but didn't fall. Stumbling, he kept running, noticeably slower.
Reyn didn't pursue. The grass nearby rustled.
He expected Iceberg to use this moment to attack. The shot at Ramsey was partly deliberate provocation to force Iceberg to reveal his position.
In Soul Eye's view, ten meters to the left, weeds swayed as if an invisible snake slithered through the thickets, rapidly closing in.
Reyn calmly racked the pump, reloading. It took a second.
Iceberg was already upon him. At high speed, Shadow Evasion stopped working.
A human silhouette appeared before Reyn's eyes. He even caught the cold murderous thirst in Iceberg's eyes. The sword tip gleamed just centimeters from the shotgun barrel.
Bang!
A cloud of white smoke billowed. At the very last moment, Reyn managed to fire.
He fired almost point-blank, right into Iceberg's chest. It threw him back; he fell into the grass but didn't die instantly, just writhed in agony.
Reyn didn't stop. He emptied the remaining shells into the downed Iceberg.
After several shots, Iceberg became a pile of meat and stopped twitching.
The soul detached from Iceberg's body and, like a moth to flame, flew into Reyn's eyes, vanishing inside.
On the illusory phone interface, the energy charge bar began filling rapidly. In seconds, it passed 50% and kept rising. Hard to say where it would stop!
Reyn felt every cell in his body rejoice. Consciousness became incredibly clear; an indescribable sense of lightness and power spread through his body.
But it wasn't over yet.
Reyn quickly grabbed shells from the bandolier, reloading the shotgun one by one, while moving toward the enemies running from the estate.
In the darkness, they saw only muzzle flashes and heard the booms, not understanding what was happening, unaware even of Reyn's presence.
When Reyn appeared in their lantern light, they froze for an instant, then charged him.
Bang!
Reyn halted, firmly shouldering the butt, and with one shot knocked down the Iron Guard running ahead.
Before the shotgun, all are equal.
Even the Iron Guard with his high defense and activated "Stone Skin" element, making his skin as hard as rock, was not invincible. It was still skin, not real stone. Moreover, he had rushed out in a hurry, without armor. A point-blank shotgun blast dropped him on the spot.
Bang! Bang! Two more shots. The first into the man behind him, turning him into a sieve. The second into the Iron Guard again, right in the head, blowing it to pieces.
Two more souls detached from the corpses and were absorbed by Reyn, continuing to replenish his energy charge.
Reyn spun around and ran in the direction Ramzi had fled.
He was wounded and couldn't get far, so Reyn had left him for last. Having absorbed three souls, he felt full of strength, as if he had infinite stamina. His running speed had increased significantly.
A few minutes later, a stumbling figure appeared on the road ahead. It was Ramzi.
Reyn accelerated. Ramzi turned, saw his pursuer, and his face twisted in horror.
He had already reached the main road. Spotting the chase, he panicked and ran south, then veered into a roadside grove, dashed through it, and ended up on a shallow river shoal. There was no way further.
Unarmed, wounded, almost out of strength.
In desperation, Ramzi fell to his knees, raising his hands up.
"Don't kill me!" he shouted. "I know many secrets of Iceberg!"